The COVID-19 pandemic witnessed nurses emerge as frontline fighters, forgoing their safety and risking exposure to comfort patients. The pandemic did a fine job highlighting the contributions of these dedicated and passionate practitioners.
Nurses are the unsung heroes of the healthcare sector, working tirelessly and dedicatedly to ensure patient safety and positive outcomes.
However, the coverage did not depict the everyday challenges adversely impacting their life quality. Nurse practitioners struggle with exhaustingly hectic workloads, the challenges of mandatory overtime, and limitations in clinical authority and career progression.
But every challenge has a solution, and this article will explore key nursing obstacles and ways to overcome them.
Limitations to Career Advancement: Higher Education
Gone are the days when nursing careers were limited to administrative roles and menial secretarial duties. Today, nurses advance beyond assistance roles and lead healthcare facilities as primary care and specialized practitioners. For instance, family nurse practitioners perform many primary care duties previously restricted to skilled and licensed physicians.
However, actualizing these roles demands higher education, state licensure, extensive skill-building, and clinical experience. The journey begins with a BSN program, moving towards MSN specializations and doctoral programs to pursue leadership development. Nurses who fail to prioritize higher education find themselves restricted within entry-level and administrative roles.
Lack of higher education qualifications is the most significant obstacle in the path to nursing advancement and clinical authority. Balancing a full-time degree program with nursing schedules may sound like a nightmare, but e-learning platforms offer immense flexibility. Registered nurses can flexibly balance an online RN to BSN program with their 10-12-hour shift schedules by designing their own workload.
Ideally, it’s wise to consult your team leader to work toward a flexible 8-hour schedule to avoid the excessive burden. Online BSN programs eliminate the demanding and shackling requirements of brick-and-mortar classrooms. The coursework and academic loads are more manageable to facilitate nurse practitioners’ intellectual growth and career advancement. After all, the healthcare sector needs skilled nurses, and e-learning platforms play crucial roles in addressing these skill shortages.
Unhealthy Work-Life Balance: Pursue a Specialization
Nurses struggle with an unhealthy work-life balance that casts a terrible shadow over their life quality, physical health, and mental well-being. Practitioners who work back-to-back 12-hour shifts with mandatory overtime barely find enough time to sleep. Nurses struggle to enjoy nutritious, homecooked meals or physical activity other than running up and down the hallways.
With the passage of time, their social lives become nonexistent, and the endless demands of their professions consume their lives. Nurse practitioners anxious for a healthy work-life balance must pursue clinical specializations to achieve flexibility and stability. For instance, geriatric care nurses work standard 9-5 shifts at senior care facilities or provide at-home care.
Likewise, family nurse practitioners (FNPs) serve hospitals and clinics with standard 9-5 shifts. Some facilities require recently-graduated FNPs to serve 8-10 hour shifts or longer schedules. But experienced FNPs can work toward setting up their own private practice to serve small towns and local communities. Pursuing a specialization allows practitioners to build a flexible and rewarding career around their core passions.
Overwhelming Bouts of Occupational Stress: Prioritize Self-Care
Occupational stress is an unavoidable aspect of nursing professions, constantly undermining their emotional and mental well-being. Nursing is an overwhelmingly stressful profession, demanding practitioners fight life-and-death emergencies with quick, split-second responses. Every second is of the essence, and nurses don’t have the luxury of making errors and learning from their mistakes.
The exhausting shifts, mandatory overtime, pressure to maintain accuracy, and continually compromising one’s well-being for patients contribute to overwhelming stress and anxiety. Nurses must unwind and prioritize self-care to prevent stress from interfering with their work ethic and efficiency.
It’s only a matter of time before occupational stress undermines a nurse’s efficiency, accuracy, and diligence while handling patient care.
Nurses must recognize signs of stress before they interfere with their day-to-day responsibilities. You can cope with stress by taking time to unwind, spending time with family and friends, and pampering yourself. Go on spa days, enjoy lunches with your friends, make time for romantic dates and read books to nurture your mind.
Toxic Work Environments: Build Leadership Skills
The advancements in nursing roles and responsibilities haven’t deterred senior medical practitioners from undermining nursing capabilities. Most retiring physicians, specialists, and practitioners undermine nursing input while diagnosing or designing treatments. Rude comments, off-handed remarks, and unconstructive criticism create a toxic work environment that doesn’t support personal growth and professional development.
Nurses can overcome this challenge and grow beyond toxic work environments by prioritizing skill-building and advanced training. Honing and harnessing your skills is the only way to cement your clinical authority and enjoy esteem amongst peers. Leadership development demands higher education, additional certifications, training, and networking.
Final Thoughts
No challenge is insurmountable if one dares to succeed and has the will to work tirelessly. Do you have your sights on a rewarding nursing career with leadership roles? In that case, you need a solid and realistic game plan to overcome your obstacles and actualize your ambitions. Success doesn’t come overnight, and challenges can seem overwhelming when one lacks a strategy.
Nurses can make their everyday challenges disappear by harnessing their problem-solving skills and focusing on solutions. Modern-day nurses are shaping the future of the healthcare sector, and higher education offers a straightforward route to leadership roles.
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